Tag: Electronic Voting

The digital age hasn’t been very good for elections, at least when it comes to the actual recording and counting of votes. But some big brains are out to change all that. Here is a system that would let you vote anonymously and allow you to verify that your vote was recorded accurately. (continued)

With an electorate estimated at 714 million voters, India began a massive five-part election on Thursday. The U.S. could learn a thing or two from the world’s biggest democracy. Indians have used e-voting since 2004, without the kinds of shenanigans that have become so familiar. Check out the BBC’s mega-coverage, including this gallery.

It turns out Diebold uses a universal key to access its voting machines, meaning that anyone who has one, a minute of free time and a little know-how can steal an election without a trace. What’s worse, the company made an image of the key available on its website, allowing at least one viewer to produce multiple working copies.

A federal advisory panel has ruled against a proposal that would have required electronic voting machines to produce a verifiable paper ballot. A report released last week by the National Institute of Standards and Technology that detailed the vulnerabilities of popular e-voting machines inspired the proposal, but was ultimately discarded.

The federal government has finally taken notice of absurdly unverifiable electronic voting equipment, with new recommendations just released by the National Institute of Standards and Technology. The research group argues that a paper trail is necessary for election officials to be able to conduct a credible recount. But don’t get your hopes up: Even if Congress agrees with the findings, real oversight could be years away.